top of page
Sylvia Rose
Oct 16, 20246 min read
10 Ancient Spices of Trade, Health & Beauty
Spices come from distant lands along ancient trade routes. These commodities bring flavor to food, health and beauty to consumers and...
13 views
Sylvia Rose
Sep 6, 20243 min read
Ancient Traders & Buyers: Art of Testing Metals
Testing metals is a precise and varied process in the ancient world. It's a crucial skill in ensuring fair trade and preventing fraud....
19 views
Sylvia Rose
May 24, 20244 min read
Neolithic Salt & Brine Works Europe
Neolithic salt production in Europe centers around sites such as Solnitsata in today's Bulgaria, and Lunca (Poiana Slatinei), Romania....
13 views
Sylvia Rose
May 22, 20247 min read
Dnieper (Dnipro) River: Early Humans
Dnieper (Dnipro) River is one of most important waterways of ancient European trade and travel. Since the early Stone Age, from the sedge...
8 views
Sylvia Rose
May 18, 20245 min read
Solnitsata - Neolithic Salt Trade Town
Solnitsata is the oldest known town in Europe, dating to the Chalcolithic Age in the 5th millennium BCE. A major center of the Neolithic...
33 views
Sylvia Rose
May 17, 20244 min read
Baltic Aetsi & the Roman Amber Texts
The Aetsi are a north Germanic-Baltic group described by Roman Tacitus in 98 CE. With strong connections to the trade of coveted amber,...
14 views
Sylvia Rose
May 16, 20247 min read
Aetsi: Boars, Snakes & Baltic Amber
The Aesti (Aestii, Astui, Aests) appear at a time when European cultures mingle, and trade routes connect north to south. Neither Germans...
23 views
Sylvia Rose
May 12, 20243 min read
Ugarit Royal Palace: Romancing the Ruins
Ugarit is an ancient coastal city-state of northern Syria. In the amiable climate of the East Mediterranean, Bronze Age Ugarit grows a...
20 views
Sylvia Rose
May 8, 20246 min read
Enkomi: Bronze Age Trade of Cyprus
Enkomi is among the most important settlements of middle Bronze Age Cyprus. Originally it's situated on the east coast as a prime...
19 views
Sylvia Rose
May 8, 20244 min read
Ox Hide Ingots - Bronze Age Trade
Oxhide (ox hide, ox-hide) ingots are popular trade goods during the Bonze Age. An ingot is a piece of metal or other material such as...
20 views
Sylvia Rose
Feb 1, 20245 min read
Bitumen - Tarry Trade in Perfect Pitch
Bitumen, a natural petroleum product, is a common trade route item in the ancient world. The earliest known use of bitumen dates back to...
36 views
Sylvia Rose
Jan 24, 20242 min read
Ebony - Precious Wood of Ancients
Ebony is a coveted item of trade for thousands of years, in the ancient world still in demand today. A solid black hardwood, ebony is...
33 views
Sylvia Rose
Jan 14, 20246 min read
Uluburun - Bronze Age Shipwreck
The Uluburun shipwreck is among the amazing discoveries from the Bronze Age. Near Uluburun (Grand Cape) in Mediterranean Anatolia...
42 views
Sylvia Rose
Jan 10, 20244 min read
Salt Trade - the Most Precious Mineral
Salt is an essential mineral of life. In food it stimulates taste and is among the oldest preservation methods. Part of the human taste...
50 views
Sylvia Rose
Jan 4, 20245 min read
Rise of the Phoenicians - Early Years
The Phoenicians rise from semi-nomadic hunter gatherers who settle the coasts of today's Lebanon to become the foremost merchant and...
51 views
Sylvia Rose
Jan 3, 20244 min read
Bronze Age Trade of Mesopotamia
In the ancient world, trade unites countries, spreads knowledge and formalizes safe travel routes. In Mesopotamia a local trade network...
24 views
Sylvia Rose
Dec 19, 20235 min read
Cinnamon - Spice Trade of Ancients
Cinnamon ( Cinnamomum ) is the oldest known spice in the world. The fragrant bark comes into popular use by c. 2000 BCE, when Egyptians...
52 views
Sylvia Rose
Nov 22, 20234 min read
Steppe Trade Routes: Before the Silk Road
The Steppe trade route network is in place about two thousand years before the official establishment of the Silk Roads in the 2nd...
40 views
Sylvia Rose
Oct 23, 20235 min read
Baltic Amber - Gold of the North
Baltic amber is among the most prized trade items for millennia. The European amber trade starts in Sicily, with exports to other...
121 views
Sylvia Rose
Oct 23, 20234 min read
Bronze Age Europe - the Amber Roads
The mystic stone amber is treasured for beauty, depth and warmth. A fossilized resin, amber can be worn in jewelry, traded for goods or...
75 views
bottom of page